Dragon Riding(Revision 16448)

Dragon Riding is a new feature in Skyrim: Dragonborn that allows the player to tame and ride Dragons. The process involves using a Dragon Shout to cause a dragon to temporarily become your ally, and speaking to it once it lands lets you ride it into the sky and almost anywhere else.

To begin, you will need all three Words of Power of the Bend Will Shout, which are obtained by doing the Dragonborn Main Questline. Once you have all three words, simply find a dragon, either in the wild or at a Dragon Lair, and use the shout on the dragon, much like you would using the Dragonrend Shout. Instead of crashing into the ground however, the Dragon will land very close to you, and by interacting with the Dragon (A on the X360), you will automatically climb on, and the Dragon will take to the skies. Certain named Dragons cannot be tamed (Alduin, Sahloknir, Paarthurnax, Durnehviir, Alduin, and the skeletal dragon in Labyrinthian). Odahviing can be tamed and ridden by traveling to the Throat of the World where he circles the summit.

Once in the sky, the Dragon will being a circular flight pattern, not unlike the dragons you might see in the wild. You will not be able to directly control how the dragon flies. It will stay in the area that you mounted it, unless directed to fly somewhere else via the world map. Note that you cannot fast travel on a Dragon to a major hold like Solitude or Whiterun, nor can you fly from the island of Solstheim to Skyrim or vice versa.

To land, simply interact with the Dragon again and a notification will pop up that the Dragon is searching for a place to land. Once it lands you will automatically disembark, though you can cancel the landing process at any time. After climbing off, the Dragon will either assist you with nearby enemies, or fly off to whence it came. There is a possibilty if it has been sometime since taming the dragon that it will become hostile once more.

Combat on a dragon has its ups and downs. As you will not be able to directly control the dragon, you can only fight enemies that are in range of the Dragon. By locking on to a target (Y on the X360), the enemies health and name will appear below the compass, and both you and the Dragon will lock on to the target. You can switch targets by pressing left or right. The Dragon will begin a standard aerial attack pattern, sometimes landing to bite or use its breath on the ground. The player can assist the dragons with certain projectile spells and shouts. Area of Effect spells and summons cannot be cast, and weapons are limited as well.

If the Dragon you are riding is low on health, it will attempt to land and continue fighting from the ground. If killed, you will automatically disembark and be possibly paralyzed for a few moments. You will however claim the Dragon's Soul.

For more information, a help article appears after you board your first Dragon.